Vehicle wheel and axle.



No. 857.296.. PATENTEDJUNE 18, 1907-.

' I J. E. MURRAY.

VEHICLE. WHEEL AND AXLE.

APPLICATION FILED OGT 17.1906.

\JINVENTQR;

exact description thereof.

JAMES E. MURRAY, 1 OF MOKEESPORT, PENNSYLVANIA.

" VEHICLE WHEEL-'AND AXLE.

To all whom it mwyconcern:

- Be a known that I; JAMESE. Mam, a

resident of McKeesport, in the county of A116. gheny and State of Pennsylvania, have in vented a newand' useful; Im rovement in 'Vehicle Wheels and. Axles;v an I do hereby declare the following-to be a full, clear, and

This invention relates. to'vehicle wheels and axles, and especially to that class in which the wheel journal is hinged to the axle. for the'purpose of steering the vehicle, as is the case with motor Vehicles. 1

' The object of the invention isto provide a vehicle wheel and axle of this character which is very much strongerand more enduring than those ordinarily used, this being done by providing a-very large amount of bearing surface between thewheel and axle nals journa s or journal member.

In all motor vehicles the front, axles have the wheel journals or skeins hingedto the axle proper on vertical pivots, said skeins' or jourbeing connected to the steering handle by a series of levers, and the steering being accom lished by changing the angle of these skeins with reference to the axle.

In most IlOI constructions the hinge pivots of the w eel journals or skeins are located a considerable distance inside of the wheel base. As a, consequence considerable strainis placed upon-these pivots, thus vtending to bend them and permitting the, wheels to spread. apart at their bottoms. and to tip inwardly at their tops. When this. occurs the parts of the steering gear'bind, thus making the vehicle hard to steer. 3 Furthermore,

.:with such prior construction the turning of the wheels at an'angle necessitates rolling them slightly over the ground. and u onground this is hard to do. Furt er-.

more, when thewheel strikes an obstruction 1 at high speed, there is a tendency to swing the skein or ournal on the 'ivot, th'us giving a severe shock to the chau our, and in some cases this has been known to entirely jerkthe steering lever out of his hands so that he loses control of the car. 1

In rior constructions the wheeljournal is usual y in the form ofa sleeve surrounding a short s indle fixed centrally in .thewheel hub. l y reason of the construction the s indle is necessarily. of small diameter and a l of the wear is brought directly upon the small bearing surfaces of-the spindleandthe p p specification of Letters Patent. Application filed 00to ber1"l.1906. Serial No. 339,374.

. section the hollow bearing,

' Patented. June 18, 1907.

I inside of the bearing sleeve. The consequence isthat these parts wear very. rapidly.

The object of my invention is to overcome the foregoingdifficulties, and the invention consists, as heretoforestated, in'so forming the hub and wheel journal that a very large amount of bearingsurface is provide I-n'the accompanying drawmgsFigure .1 is a plan view of a portion of a vehicle and the front'wheels, showing my invention applied thereto; Fig; I 2 is a vertical cross section through the axle on line 2-2 Fig; 3; .Fig. 3 is a vertical section through. the wheel and longitudinal of the axle; Fig; 4 is a horizontal longitudinally through-the axle and wheelf Fig. 5 is a similar section showing a modification; and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view of the roller bearing. The axle 1 may be of any desired construction, being eitherdouble or forked at its ends as shown, so as to provide upper and lower arms 2 The ends of these arms are provided with openings into which project bosses or trunnions 3, either studs screwed into the wheel bearing or formed integral with the -wheel journal or bearing 4. The axle is either split or one of its arms is a separate piece. and connected by means of bolts 8 in order to permit the insertion of the journal or bearing with integral trunnion's between the arms.

The journalor bearing 4 might bemade solid and project into. the wheel'hub in a make-the same in the form of a sleeve as shown, for receiving a spindle 9 connected to the hub 10. The spindle 9 rotates within 4, and is held in position well understood manner, but I prefer to by a suitable-washer and tap bolt 11, or other suitable means. This, spindle may project inwardly and have connected thereto drivin mechanism when the vehicle is provider with a front wheel drive.

Connected to the bearinge is an arm .12, which in turn is con- 'nected by the'usual rods or links to the steering lever.

roo

-The hub of the wheel is provided with a very large recess 13 in the plane of the spokes 14, and with a smaller recess 15 extending outwardly beyond the plane of said spokes.

The spindle S) is located centrally of these recesses and the outer faces of t iese'rocossos are accurately formed so as to provide hearing faces. The recess .15 is of sulllcicnt depth so'that a-bearing sleeve 4 of sulllcienlcngth to form a practical bearing can be used, said J sleeve" pro ecting into the recess 15 sufliciently far to bring the trunnions 3 substan- ;:tially in the plane of the wheel base; that is,

in the plane of the spokes 14, the wheel base being the rim attthe ends of said spokes. Therecess l5.is substantially cylindrical and and the bearing sleeve 4-.has aneat rotary ,fit' in the same.

Formed on or "secured to the bearing sleeve 4 is aldisk 17 having its outer periphery formed with a wide bearirig'face'18;,which bearsagainst the outer face of'the recess 13,

. thus-forming a thirdzbe'aring of very large 3'and'ends of the axlearms 2';

diameter. Consequently, the spindle 9 is very largely relieved of shearing to exclude dust and dirt.

By reasonof the bearingsformed'at and 15, practically allshearing 0r bending strains and-wear are transferred from the s indle to the larger bearing surfaces, so that 0 viousl y the. wear is reduced to a minimum and darifger of bending the parts is entirely overcome.

The trunnions or pivots 3 are directly in line with the wheel base and-withthe large hear" 'ing surface at 13, so that these trunmons are not subjected to anybendingstrains. The

recesses 13 and 15 are provided with suitable.

bushings 22 of brass or other metal havi :a low co-efficient of friction, and also if e-' sired thesebushings may be provided with roller bearings 23, as SllOWILIH Figs. 5 and 6, to further reduce wear-and friction- The vehicle will be steered in the usual manner by. swinging the bearings4 on the pivots or trunnions 3. Inasmuch :as these trunnions are substantially in the plane of the wheel base, they are subject to no bending. strain due to the weight of the vehicle Consequently the wheel will always remain in true-vertical position and not tip inwardly at the top as in the old constructions. Furthermore, by reason of such location of these ground. T

pivots, in sw nging the wheel itwill merely pivot on a point instead of rolling over-the e very large bearin surface between said journal and. the wheel hub re duces friction an wear and. also prevents bending of the small spindle-which it is necessary to use in vehicles ofthis kind. The consequence is that the vehicle is'easy to steer, there is no danger of losing control of the machine, and the repairs on thispart vertical of the machine are reduced to a minimum.

It is obvious that the .shape,-- dimensions and arrangement of" parts may be widely varied without departrng'from the spirit of invention as herein' described and, 79

the

claimed. s

What I claim is:

1. In a-vehicle, the combinationof an axle, a wheel provided with a recessedhub and with a spindle located centrally in said recess, and'a sleeved wheel journal hinged to a theaxle and surrounding the wheel s indle and projecting into the recess of the 'hu and having a bearing against the walls of said re-' cess.- 1

. 2.111 a vehicle, the combination of an axle, a wheel providedwith a recessed hub and a spindle located centrally in said recess, and a-sleevedwheel journal hin ed to the axle on vertical ivots locatedsu stanti'ally in the plane of t e wheelbase, said journal surrounding the wheel spindle and projecting against the walls of said recess.

3. In avehicle, the combination of "an I axle, a wheel hub having a bearin face in the plane of the s okes, and aspindle Iocated cen trally of sai bearing face, a sleeved wheel journal ,hinge'clto the axle on a vertical'pivot and provided with a bearing face-contacting with the bearing face in the hub. 4

4; a vehicle, the combination of an axle, a wheel provided with a recessed hub having a bearing face in the plane of the spokes, a wheel journal hinged tothe axle on ivots ocated substantiall ,in'the plane of t e spokes and rovided wit 4 a bearmg face on alarger ra ius than said pivotsand contacting with thebearing face 1n--the hub. I

5. In a vehicle, the combination of an axle,"awheel provided with a hub hollow in the'plane of the spokes and having a coninto the recessed hub and-having a bearing ICO tracted recess extending outside of said plane a wheel. spindle in the hub recess located centrally thereof, and asleeved wheel journal hinged to the axle and projecting into the're cess of thehub with the ,trunn'ions located substantially in the plane of 111 journal surrounding the wheel spindle and its outer end having" a bearing in the contracted hub recess.

e spokes, said 6. In a vehicle, the combination of an I axle, "a wheel provided with a hub havin a large recess in the plane of the spokes an a contracted recess extending outside of said plane, a wheel s indle on said hub located centrally of sai recesses, a sleeved wheel journal hinged to the axle and surrounding the wheel spindle and having one bearin fittin in the large recess in the plane of the spo es and another bearing fitting in the contracted recess. outside of the plane of said spokes. v

7. In a've'hlcle, the combination of an axle, a wheel provided with spokes and with a hub hollow in the plane of thespokes and having a contracted recess extending outside of said plane, and a Wheel journal hinged to the axle on a vertical pivot and projecting 5 into the recessed hub with said pivots lying substantially in the plane of the spokes, said wheel journal having its end bearing in the recess in the hub outside of the plane of the spokes and having a bearing face outside of the trunnions and contacting with outer fac of the hub recess in the plane of the spokes;

8. In a vehicle, the combination of an axle, a Wheel provided with a recessed hub 15 having a bearing face in the plane of the.

spokes and with a spindle located centrally in' said recess, a sleeved Wheel journal hinged to the axle on vertical pivots located substantially in the plane of the'spokes andsurrounding the Wheel. spindle, and a disk on said 20 sleeved wheel 'journal and provided with a bearing face outside of the-pivots and contacting with-the bearing face in the hub.

In testimony whereof, I the said JAMES E. MURRAY have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES E. MURRAY.

Witnesses:

' F. W WINTER,

ROBERT-C. TOTTEN. 

